Kendra Broekhuis

Kendra Broekhuis has been writing ever since she and her husband spent three years living overseas in Guatemala. Kendra finds joy and therapy in writing, as it is a way to process whatever is happening in their lives: like their move overseas to a place of deep poverty, Kendra’s begrudging first passage into motherhood, their move and transition back to the United States, and the devastating loss of their second baby. Kendra desires to be an encourager to all women honest enough to admit their struggles and celebrate their greatest joys in life.

For her day job, Kendra stays home with two of their children, Jocelyn and Levi. She and her family now live and work in the city of Milwaukee, attempting to learn what Love Your Neighbor is supposed to look like. Kendra’s love language is Dove chocolate.

Author Updates

As we perused the racks of school uniforms, I held back tears. Wasn’t I just holding our first baby tightly against my chest, breathing in her precious newborn scent? Since when did years pass by in only seconds? And since when did little navy polos and black Mary Jane’s and Back to School Shopping become an integral part of my life? I knew these days would come eventually. Babies barely leave the birth canal before society wants to know how, when, and where their parents plan to educa

{Today I am grateful for my neighbor and her willingness to let me share her story and shed light on the complexities of poverty and housing. She has been through so much. She is resilient. And she is inspiring me to move beyond Band-Aid Charity to more deeply rooted Justice.
This week's series: #GoodGiving}
I woke up from a nap to four missed calls from my neighbor.
I called back

I took our kids to the grocery store last week after school. One child - who shall remain nameless – whined incessantly up and down every single aisle. I almost set her on the Clearance rack next to all of the weirdly flavored jars of jelly that will eventually end up in landfills and walked away. With blood, sweat, and only a few tears of my own, I managed to get our bags of groceries into the car, as well as our children. On the way home, the Whiny One Who Shall Not Be Named was given

“Do you have any advice to give me as I write about living in an inner city neighborhood?" I asked one of our mentors. He went over important precautions, and then he ended with this: “Most of the time, writers want to know the moral of the story. But when you live in a distressed neighborhood, things will happen and you won’t be able to explain why. And that’s okay.” I was impressed by his ability to capture the dilemma of what it’s like to digest your life in real time on the In

I could easily reword my Christian testimony to reflect the number of interactions I had with people of minority races before the age of 22: “I lived in an all-white Christian home, attended a mostly white Christian school, and went to a predominantly white Christian church.” In specific regards to African Americans, what I knew were things I was taught in history books or saw in the movies. To me, they were like mystical creatures who manifested themselves into three categories: histori

{I took a deeply desired hiatus from blogging on my website over the past three months, and as I get back into writing in this space, I will be doing things a little differently. Each week, I want to focus on one topic that I will write about in multiple posts: a blog article on my website on Monday, as well as related posts on my Instagram and Facebook pages throughout the rest of the week. My hope is that I will be able to dig deeper

We asked them for advice.
Years ago they lived in a similar neighborhood in Kalamazoo, and they remembered the times their parents called asking, "So, how's Beruit?"
In what could have become hours of conversation had to be boiled down to a few minutes walking out of the sanctuary. With big smiles they answered my question, "Don't get too attached to your earthly possessions."
Two weeks later, we are out a bike and a new lawn m

"You ain't brought your mama here yet, have you?" Johnny asked with a slight smirk. My mama lives on the other side of Lake Michigan but no, she hasn't been to our new house yet. Johnny grew up a couple blocks down the street, so he wasn't naive to the crime maps we scoured in our free time for months before we bought the place. "By the way," our contractor joined the conversation, "The guy I usually hire to do carpet won't work in this neighborhood." Another

{This is the last of twelve posts in my Here Goes Nothing Guest Blog Series.
This article was written by my dear friend, Nate Bacon. We lived three blocks away from Nate and his wife Jenny while we were in Guatemala. Their family and their work through a mission organization called InnerCHANGE have shaped our lives immensely. Nate and Jenny were the ones who advised us to get to know our neighbors when we moved back to the States. I com

{Fred Rogers knew that being a good neighbor meant loving others just the way they are. But he also knew that being a good neighbor meant presenting ourselves just the way we are. Happy Birthday, Mister Rogers. Your legacy of neighborly love lives on. Even on the days I'd rather pretend I'm not Haggard Mom Barbie.
Photo: Huffington Post}
“You are very early,” were the words that fe

{This is the eleventh of twelve in a guest blog series I am hosting through March. The series will zero in on a variety of themes from my book, Here Goes Nothing: An Introvert's Reckless Attempt to Love Her Neighbor. The writers of these posts are people I deeply admire for their wisdom and their constant seeking of Christ’s Kingdom on behalf of their neighbors both near and far.
This particular post was written by Danae Burghgraef. Dana

{This is the tenth of twelve in a guest blog series I am hosting through March. The series will zero in on a variety of themes from my book, Here Goes Nothing: An Introvert's Reckless Attempt to Love Her Neighbor. The writers of these posts are people I deeply admire for their wisdom and their constant seeking of Christ’s Kingdom on behalf of their neighbors both near and far.
This particular post was written by Ann Payne, a dear friend

{This is the ninth of twelve in a guest blog series I am hosting through March. The series will zero in on a variety of themes from my book, Here Goes Nothing: An Introvert's Reckless Attempt to Love Her Neighbor. The writers of these posts are people I deeply admire for their wisdom and their constant seeking of Christ’s Kingdom on behalf of their neighbors both near and far.
This particular post was written by Amy Lively, an extrovert

{This is the eighth of twelve in a guest blog series I am hosting through March. The series will zero in on a variety of themes from my book, Here Goes Nothing: An Introvert's Reckless Attempt to Love Her Neighbor. The writers of these posts are people I deeply admire for their wisdom and their constant seeking of Christ’s Kingdom on behalf of their neighbors both near and far.
This particular post was written by Chelsey Nugteren, a wome

{This is the seventh of twelve in a guest blog series I am hosting through mid March. The series will zero in on a variety of themes from my book, Here Goes Nothing: An Introvert's Reckless Attempt to Love Her Neighbor. The writers of these posts are people I deeply admire for their wisdom and their constant seeking of Christ’s Kingdom on behalf of their neighbors both near and far.
This particular post was written by Melanie Avila, a de

{This is the sixth of twelve in a guest blog series I am hosting through mid March. The series will zero in on a variety of themes from my book, Here Goes Nothing: An Introvert's Reckless Attempt to Love Her Neighbor. The writers of these posts are people I deeply admire for their wisdom and their constant seeking of Christ’s Kingdom on behalf of their neighbors both near and far.
This particular post was written by my sister-in-law, Kri

{Photo by Business Insider. This is the fifth of twelve in a guest blog series I am hosting through mid March. The series will zero in on a variety of themes from my book, Here Goes Nothing: An Introvert's Reckless Attempt to Love Her Neighbor. The writers of these posts are people I deeply admire for their wisdom and their constant seeking of Christ’s Kingdom on behalf of their neighbors both near and far.
This particular post was writt

{Photo by Quiet Revolution. This is the fourth of twelve in a guest blog series I am hosting through mid March. The series will zero in on a variety of themes from my book, Here Goes Nothing: An Introvert's Reckless Attempt to Love Her Neighbor. The writers of these posts are people I deeply admire for their wisdom and their constant seeking of Christ’s Kingdom on behalf of their neighbors both near and far.
This particular post was writ

{This is the third of twelve in a guest blog series I am hosting through mid March. The series will zero in on a variety of themes from my book, Here Goes Nothing: An Introvert's Reckless Attempt to Love Her Neighbor. The writers of these posts are people I deeply admire for their wisdom and their constant seeking of Christ’s Kingdom on behalf of their neighbors both near and far.
This particular post was written by Rachel Carlberg, a ne

{This is the second out of twelve in a guest blog series I am hosting through mid March. The series will zero in on a variety of themes from my book, Here Goes Nothing: An Introvert's Reckless Attempt to Love Her Neighbor. The writers of these posts are people I deeply admire for their wisdom and their constant seeking of Christ’s Kingdom on behalf of their neighbors both near and far.
This particular post was written by someone I have k